Basic Skills of Education in Community Colleges : Inside and Outside of Classrooms

Nearly two-thirds of students require some form of remediation before taking college-level classes, and community colleges have become increasingly important in providing this education. Unfortunately, relatively few students complete the developmental courses required to make a transition to college-level work. Based on a three-year study of over twenty community colleges, Basic Skills Education in Community Colleges analyzes developmental education practices, exploring what goes wrong and what goes right, and provides a series of recommendations for improved practice.

Including both classroom observations and interviews with administrators, faculty, and students, this valuable book balances critique with examples of innovation. Part One explores the instructional settings of basic skills―the use of drill and practice and remedial pedagogy in math, reading, writing, and ESL, as well as innovations in colleges that show developmental education need not follow remedial pedagogy. Part Two examines institutional factors shaping basic skills and provides recommendations for improving the quality of basic skills instruction. The research-grounded observations and recommendations in Basic Skills Education in Community Colleges make this an invaluable resource for scholars, administrators, and faculty aiming to help students progress through developmental education to college-level work and beyond.

W. Norton Grubb is the Emeritus Professor and David Pierpont Gardner Chair in Higher Education at The Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, USA.

Robert Gabriner is Professor of Educational Leadership and Director of the Educational Leadership Doctoral Program for Schools and Community Colleges at San Francisco State University, USA.